News of the day: Bärbel Bas, Jens Weidmann, Bundeswehr, Mathias Döpfner

1.

Bas amazed

Enlarge image

Candidate for the office of President of the Bundestag Bärbel Bas

Photo: Christoph Reichwein (crei) / imago images / Reichwein

I admit that when the breaking news came to my cell phone at 10 a.m. that Bärbel Bas was the SPD candidate for the office of Bundestag President, my first impulse was to open the Google app and look: Who is Bärbel Bas? After a long struggle, the Social Democrats agreed that the politician from North Rhine-Westphalia should succeed Wolfgang Schäuble. But one wonders why they are? Outside of Berlin’s political affairs, very few will have heard of Ms. Bas. As a rule, one associates a certain seniority, a certain authority and also a certain reputation with the office. I do not associate Ms. Bas with any of this for the time being - which does not have to mean that she cannot acquire all of these attributes in office. So far, the deputy parliamentary group leader has mainly been in the shadow of men.Above all Karl Lauterbach. She is actually the health policy spokeswoman for her party. But if you always wanted to know something on this subject, last dialed Lauterbach's number.

The nomination of Ms. Bas reveals how difficult the SPD has recently struggled with the issue of equality and parity. In Germany there are four top positions in the state: the Federal President, the Federal Chancellor, the President of the Federal Constitutional Court and the President of the Bundestag. Three of the offices are or will soon be filled with men, the SPD would have had great difficulty in filling the fourth office with a man again. The previous leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Rolf Mützenich, would have wanted, but he probably saw what a fatal signal that would have been. So the party went in search of a woman - and had to find out how few women they finally let up. Certainly the SPD has two respected Prime Ministers, but they were out of the question for the office of President of the Bundestag.Other important women in the party are earmarked for ministerial posts, and then the ranks of women known beyond the corridors of the Bundestag thinned.

After all, they have now agreed on one - and that is where the opportunity lies: until two years ago, party leader Saskia Esken was also largely unknown.

And you only become known when you get important and visible posts.

At least the SPD managed to do that and Bärbel Bas will surely quickly become known if they have to call the AfD to order two or three times, should some of the MPs behave again like louts in the playground.

• Read more here: Deputy parliamentary group leader - SPD wants to nominate Bärbel Bas as the new President of the Bundestag

2.

Weidmann's salvation

Enlarge image

Outgoing bosses: Jens Weidmann, Angela Merkel

Photo: ODD ANDERSEN / AFP

You have probably also noticed recently that many things have become more expensive: food, heating, gasoline, housing. Inflation is rising. In the past, the Bundesbank was responsible for keeping an eye on this and correcting it if necessary. But since the introduction of the euro, the influence of this federal republican institution waned from year to year. So much so that her boss, Jens Weidmann, threw in the towel today in exasperation. All of his reminders to the European Central Bank (ECB), all of his protest against low interest rates and cheap money went unheard in the atrium of the ECB Tower in Frankfurt, where Christine Lagarde is in charge.

Weidmann has had a straightforward career. He worked at the International Monetary Fund, was Secretary General at the Advisory Council on the assessment of the overall economic situation, was brought to the Bundesbank by Axel Weber, then Angela Merkel to the Chancellery, responsible for economic issues. Finally, in 2011, she appointed him to succeed Axel Weber as President of the Bundesbank. He leaves open where Weidmann is going now. He cites "personal reasons" as the reason for his resignation. But how do my colleagues Tim Bartz and Stefan Kaiser write in their analysis of the departure: “At 53 years old, Weidmann is still clearly too young to retire. And his predecessor Axel Weber showed that you can earn big money again as a central banker and former academic:One year after his departure, he was hired as head of the board of directors of the major Swiss bank UBS. "

• Read the whole story here: Resignation of Bundesbank President Weidmann - The departure of the eternal reminder

3.

Soldiers as mercenaries?

Enlarge image

Special forces in the Yemen war

Photo: The_Yemeni_Army_ / dpa

Placing the Bundeswehr under general suspicion for questionable activities is just as inadmissible as the Saxons for right-wing voting behavior. It is noticeable, however, that both keep making headlines. So today the Bundeswehr again. As my colleagues Jörg Diehl, Matthias Gebauer and Fidelius Schmid found out, the Federal Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office arrested two former members of the army. The two men are said to have forged plans for a 150-man private mercenary army that wanted to offer their services in Saudi Arabia for cash in order to fight the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. One of the ringleaders is called Arend-Adolf by first name and does not live in Saxony, but in Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg.

I don't know at which intersection such people took the wrong turn, but the suspicion arises that the problem with behavioral soldiers in the force is more serious than is generally assumed. Several reports on right-wing extremist incidents at the KSK elite group have appeared since 2017. Since then, around 50 soldiers have been targeted by the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) on suspicion of such activities, which has also uncovered the most recent incidents. The Federal Ministry of Defense is currently taking action against members of the Bundeswehr Guard Battalion on suspicion of right-wing extremism. At a party of a unit in Lithuania soldiers sang a birthday song for Adolf Hitler,dropped racist and sexist slurs within the force and forced members of the unit to engage in sexual acts. Whoever becomes the new defense minister: all the best for the job!

• Read the full story here: Suspected terrorism - Former Bundeswehr soldiers allegedly wanted to build up mercenary troops

(Would you like to receive the »Situation in the evening« conveniently by email in your inbox? Here you can order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)

What else is important today

• Kremlin critic Navalny receives EU human rights award:

  Russia's imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny receives the Sakharov Prize, endowed with 50,000 euros.

  This honors Nawalny's “immense bravery”, said EU Parliament President Sassoli.

• Prosecutors are suing operators of corona test centers:

  They are said to have collected millions from the state for

  corona

  tests that they had never carried out: Bochum prosecutors have now brought charges against two operators of test centers.

• Augustus Intelligence founder Wolfgang Haupt is dead:

  Wolfgang Haupt apparently died in a helicopter crash.

  He had become known as the founder of Augustus Intelligence.

  The New York start-up was involved in the Philipp Amthor lobby affair.

• Producer prices have recorded the highest increase since 1974:

  producer prices of German producers rose by 14.2 percent in September compared to the previous month - more than they have been in 47 years.

  Back then, too, prices had skyrocketed because of expensive energy.

• 92-year-old Japanese named the »star of tomorrow« in the art world:

  Gerhard Richter has been leading the »art compass«, as he has done for 18 years.

  However, there is a surprise among the climbers: There is 92-year-old Yayoi Kusama.

My favorite story today:

One generally has the idea that one has taken care of things if one should have inherited a house on Tegernsee.

Real estate prices have gone through the roof in the last few years, a piece of land with a dwelling on it, which 30 or 40 years ago cost maybe 400,000 marks, is now easily 4 million euros.

My colleague Henning Jauernig describes why this can be a serious problem in a very readable text in which he introduces people who are multimillionaires and who still cannot afford a vacation.

• Read the whole story here: Overheated real estate market at Tegernsee - eviction from paradise

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +

• The suspicious slump in the Russian gas pipelines:

  Is Russia deliberately throttling its gas supply in order to put Europe under pressure?

  Data from several entry points show a noticeable decline.

  Only the controversial Nord Stream pipeline is not affected.

• "Maybe it makes you strong":

  When primal fears become reality: Thousands of people joined in the search for eight-year-old Julia, who got lost in the Bohemian Forest.

  Anxiety researcher Borwin Bandelow explains how children process such experiences.

• The oil company Total had known about the climate crisis since 1971:

  Shell, Exxon and BP knew about it.

  Now a study shows: The French company Total Energies had also known about the dangers of climate change for decades - which led to different reactions.

Which is less important today

Enlarge image

Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner

Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst / DPA

• When Springer boss Mathias Döpfner leaves his high-rise publishing house on Rudi-Dutschke-Strasse in Berlin and turns right twice, he is at Checkpoint Charlie. Even 31 years after the reunification, the showers of the former German-German division live on there. In a kind of folklore, however. For Döpfner, however, it must actually feel as if he is leaving the American sector and stepping onto enemy territory. After all, significant parts of the government district are located in the former Soviet sector, that is, where Döpfner sees "the new GDR authoritarian state" in the making. After all, the communists in the Chancellery could no longer ruin a billion-dollar deal (maybe the last one?). Axel Springer announced the acquisition of »POLITICO«, one of the world's most influential offerings for political news,closed. It is the media company's largest acquisition in its history. Döpfner also addressed his employees in a video message - but not to announce the deal, but to justify the expulsion of Bild editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt. "In the background there were men who clearly organized the procedure," Döpfner says in the video about the allegations against Reichelt. Evil forces everywhere.says Döpfner in the video about the allegations against Reichelt. Evil forces everywhere.says Döpfner in the video about the allegations against Reichelt. Evil forces everywhere.

Typo of the day

, now corrected: "Steaming market leader Spotify is under pressure."

Cartoon of the day:

Reichelt can fly

And tonight?

Enlarge image

Actors Christiane Paul, Christoph Maria Herbst

Photo: Bernd Spauke / Majestic

"Last week I was on the verge of making jam so that something would happen," says the woman. So not mine. "How often do you sleep together?" Asks the man. So not me. "This year or what?" Was the counter-question. “During the week.” “That’s hard to say, it all depends.” “What?” “Well, whether it’s my birthday during the week.” It’s dialogues from the new movie “It’s just a phase Hase «with Peter Jordan, Christiane Paul, Christoph Maria Herbst, Jytte-Merle Böhmsen, and Jürgen Vogel. The film is based on Jan Weiler's book of the same name and addresses the midlife crisis of the late forties. So my. Where you can no longer get anywhere because everyday life is eating you up. I've only seen the trailer so far, actually wanted to go to the cinema tonight. But I still have to finish a text for tomorrow.But maybe you have time. Have fun!

A lovely evening.

Sincerely,

Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.